Brick regrouping apparatus

ABSTRACT

Bricks arranged in a plurality of stacks on kiln cars in doublelayer courses having a prescribed number of bricks in each row and column are first transferred to an intermediate table by means of a first, side gripper pickup head. The side gripper pickup head includes several pair of gripper members which grip the bricks at the ends of the rows thereof and compact the rows in preparation for the first head to lift and transfer the bricks to the intermediate table. A second, end gripper pickup head includes several pairs of gripper segments, movable with respect to each other, to grip the bricks at the ends of the columns, lift and adjust the row-wise spacing therein to arrange the bricks into courses having a different number of bricks in the rows thereof than the courses on the kiln cars. The second pickup head then transfers the bricks held therein to an off-bearing conveyor leading to a stacking and strapping station.

United States Patent Stuart et al.

BRICK REGROUPING APPARATUS Inventors: Gerald L. Stuart; Forrest A.

Paschal, both of Siler City, NC.

[73] Assignee: Forrest Paschal Machinery Corporation, Siler City, NC.

22 Filed: July 28, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 276,031

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-George F. AbrahamAttorneyCharles R. Rhodes [57] ABSTRACT Bricks arranged in a pluralityof stacks on kiln cars in double-layer courses having a prescribednumber of bricks in each row and column are first transferred to anintermediate table by means of a first, side gripper pickup head. Theside gripper pickup head includes several pair of gripper members whichgrip the bricks at the ends of the rows thereof and compact the rows inpreparation for the first head to lift and transfer the bricks to theintermediate table. A second, end gripper pickup head includes severalpairs of gripper segments, movable with respect to each other, to gripthe bricks at the ends of the columns, lift and adjust the row-wisespacing therein to arrange the bricks into courses having a differentnumber of bricks in the rows thereof than the courses on the kiln cars.The second pickup head then transfers the bricks held therein to anoff-bearing conveyor leading to a stacking and strapping station.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures IIII PAIENIEU E w 3,776,398

1 SHEET 2 BF 3 HIM FIG. 2

BRICK REGROUPINGAPPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In accordance withconventional practices, bricks are arranged for firing on kiln cars in aplurality of stacks, two or three stacks across the width of the kilncar and two-four stacks along the length thereof. The number- Thecourses on the kiln car do not generally corre spond to thecourses inthefinal strapped package as far as the number of bricks in'each row isconcerned. Therefore, the courses cannot be removed from the kiln carand stacked atop each-other to form the package because of thedifferencein' the number of bricks in each row. It is also true that thenumber of bricks in each column on the kiln car is not the same as thenumber of bricks in each column of the finished package, however this isimmaterial as the stacker receives bricks continuously fed in lengthwiseof the columns and forms the bricks into one long continuous package,which is subsequently cut off to desired lengths in a well known manner.

Regrouping of the bricks from the kiln car into courses having rows ofproper number for the final package does present, a problem, however,which has been solved previously by completely breaking down the coursesfrom the kiln car into single rows on an off 2 conveyor havingthecorrect number .of bricks in each row for the final packaging operation.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved method and apparatus for transferring bricks from a kiln car toa stacking and strapping station more economically and withoutcompletely breaking down the courses from the kiln car.

It is another object of the present invention to probearing conveyor,moving the bricks in single file along the conveyor and regrouping bysome mechanism at the end of the conveyor into rows of the properlength, said rows being reformed into courses and stacked in the finalpackage. It is quite obvious that this procedure requires extraoperations, is thus slower and inoreexpensive. I

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION In accordance with the'presentinvention, there is provided an apparatus whichincludes thecombination of a first side gripperhead and a second end gripper head.The first, side gripper head includes a plurality of gripper memberswhich pick up the uppermost course from each of several stacks onthekiln car simultaneously, and'transfer them to an .intermediate tablethereof have a prescribed number of bricks therein.-

The off-bearing conveyor'then carries thebricks'to a stacking andstrapping station already formed in courses rather than rows. The bricksare thereby regrouped from courses on the kiln car having a'prescribednumber of bricks in each row to courses on the off-bearing from a kilncar to a conveyor leading to a stacking and strapping machine andsimultaneously regrouping the courses of one row length on the kiln carinto courses of proper row length for the final package.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method.and apparatus of the type described wherein the uppermost courses onseveral stacks of the kiln car are transferred to an intermediatetablewith therows in each course compacted, then transferred to anoff-bearing conveyor with simultaneous regrouping into courses havingrows of proper length for stacking and-strapping into the final package.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent upon reading thefollowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment of theinvention, along with an inspection 'of the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus'according to the presentinvention with the side gripper mechanism (shown in phantom'lines)positioned above one end of the kiln car and the end gripper mechanism(phantom lines) positioned above the intermediate table;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG.'1;and

FIG. 3 is aperspective view of the end-gripper appa ratus alone.

Turning now to the drawings, and particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, it isconventional practice in the brick making industry to position bricksonkiln cars K for firing in the kiln. As described hereinabove, the bricksare conventionally stacked in the kiln cars in a plurality of stacks S,.the number of stacks S depending on the size of the kiln car K. Eachstack S includes a plurality of double-layer courses stacked one atopeach other with the headers of successive courses'facingin a directionperpendicular to the headers of the courses above and below in order toachieve more even distribution of the heat over each brick. Each courseor each layer thereof I comprise a plurality of rows R of bricks spacedsidewise from each other and also arranged in columns C with the bricksthereof generally abutting in end to end relationship.

Kiln cars K are initially moved to a receiving position beneath one endof a frame 10 which in turn comprises upstanding comer columns l2, 14supporting an upper horizontal frame 16 extending from a point overlyingkiln car K to a point at the other end above an offbearing conveyor 38.An intermediate table 28 is sup ported in any well known mannerintermediate the ends of frame 16 for reasons to. be hereinafterdiscussed.

A carriage 18 having wheels 20 is movably mounted on opposite sidemembers of frame 16. A motor 22 connected to one axle 19 of carriage l8selectively drives carriage 18 back and forth in a horizontal pathbetween a first position where one end of the carriage overlies thereceiving position and a second position where the same end of thecarriage overlies intermediate 'table 28..

U. S. Letters Patent No. 3,669,283, issued June 13,

1972 and assigned to the assignee of the present application, exceptthat said patent shows a pickup head for lifting courses from only onestack at a time. The present application utilizes a pickup head in whicha plurality of gripper pairs lift bricks from one, two, three orany'number of stacks simultaneously. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2,eight courses are lifted from kiln car K and transferred simultaneously.The uppermost double-layer course is removed from each stacksimultaneously as the first pickup head 24 grips-the bricks alongopposite sides of each course (against the ends of rows R) and transfersthe courses removed following planar reorientation of alternate ones andlongitudinal compacting of the rows R in each, and places the courses onthe intermediate table 28.

The loaded kiln cars K supporting the stacks are moved alongconventional tracks (not shown) to the position beneath one end of frame10, where the car is halted while a first group of stacks beneath thefirst pickup head 24 are removed therefrom. Kiln car K is then indexedforwardly for a portion of its length, passing beneath the receivingstation whereby the next series of stacks of bricks may be unloaded.After unloading of all stacks on the kiln car, the empty car is movedfurther forward in the direction of the previously emp' tied car, andpasses eventually from beneath the receiving station.

As substantially taught by the previously identified patent No.3,669,283, the first pickup head 24 comprises a first gripping means orgripper frame 25 mounted for multi-directional movement above kiln car Kat the unloading station by means of carriage 18 as previouslymentioned. Hydraulic cylinder 26 depends from carriage 18, the piston ofwhich is attached to head 24, which in turn includes a preselectednumber of pivotally movable frames 25 each of which supports a gripperpair. Each gripper pair grips the uppermost double-layer course from oneof the stacks when activated. Frames 25 are so connected to the pickuphead 24 as to permit horizontal pivotal movement of the frames throughan arc of at least 90."In unloading a.kiln car K, the first pickup head24 is lowered onto the uppermost course of each of the stacks to beunloaded, and grippers (not shown) grip the upper course of each stackalong opposite ends of the rows, compacting the rows thereof in thedirection of their length. The first pickup head 24 is then raised,carriage 18 moved to its second position overlying intermediate table28, and the. grippers caused to release the compacted courses onto thetable. While transporting alternate courses between the kiln car and theintermediate table, frames 25 pivot 90 in a horizontal plane so thateach course deposited upon the conveyor has its rows R extending in thesame direction, notwithstanding the alternating header-stretcherorientation of the courses within the stacks initially upon the kilncar. After unloading the uppermost course from the stacks and depositingthem on table 28, first pickup head 24 returns to the unloading positionand similarly successively unloads the next course.

Intermediate table 28 is simply some type of flat stationary surfacesupported by frame 10 or from the floor onto which the bricks aretemporarily placed and may, if desired, include a plurality ofupstanding guides or walls 29 arranged on the table between the coursesplaced thereon to prevent toppling of the bricks as they are positionedby the first pickup head 24.

The second pickup head 30 includes a second gripping means 32, to bediscussed more fully hereinafter, also supported from carriage 18 at theother end therefor for reciprocal movement in a vertical directionsimilar to that of first pickup head 24 by means of a hydraulic cylinder34 or other similar means. As first pickup head 24 is moved from itsfirst position to its second position, the second pickup head 30 ismoved from its first position above intermediate table 28 to its secondor discharge position overlying offbearing conveyor 32. Therefore, asthe first pickup head 24 is moving one course of bricks to theintermediate table 28, the second pickup head 30 is moving the precedingcourse of bricks from the intermediate table 28 to the dischargeposition above offbearing conveyor 38.

Turning now to FIG. 3 for a more detailed illustration of second pickuphead 30, a plate 5 0 is attached to the piston of hydraulic cylinder 34and thus moves up and down in response thereto. A pair of side framemembers 52, 54 are attached to opposite edges of plate 50 and extendtransversely thereto along the length of and above either side ofintermediate table 28. Cross braces 56 extend between and connect sideframe members 54 and support three activating means in the form of aircylinders 58, 60, 62 thereon.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 in the embodiment herein described, the bricksare placed on table 28 in two ranks of courses, there being four coursesin each rank. Each course in turn includes three rows of brick witheight bricks in each row compacted into side-by-side relationship by thefirst pickup head. It is then desired to regroup this arrangement ofbrick into courses having three rows with eleven bricks in each row, andin such an arrangement as illustrated on conveyor 38 in FIG. 1, therewill be formed two ranks of courses with three courses in each rank, theouter courses in each rank having rows of brick with eleven in each rowwhile the middle courses include rows of bricks with ten in each row.The thought is that the operator can add the extra brick in each row ofthe middle courses as he is conducting his other operations from sparebrick gathered, for example, from the bricks removed from certaincourses to form the tyne layers somewhere along conveyor 38 (not shown).

In order to regroup the brick from the arrangement shown on table 28 tothe arrangement shown on eonveyor 38 in FIG. 1, the second pickup head30 includes means for sliding selected columns of bricks in said coursesone way or the other longitudinally of the frame members 52, 54. In thisregard a series of frames 64a-64f are suspended from side frame membersby means of T-hangers 66, and certain of said frames 64!), 64c, and 6442include upstanding brackets 68, 70, 72 in turn attached to the free endof the pistons of cylinders 62, 60, 58 respectively. End gripper members32 are formed as gripper sements 32a-32e as illustrated in FIG. 3, andoperatively attached to frames 64a-f according to any of several wellknown manners. There are basically three types of gripper segments, onebeing the-type shown by. segments 32a, 32f, which grip the ends of rowshaving eight bricks,-a second type 32b, 32e, grip only three brick rows,while the third type 32c, 32d grip five brick rows. Some of thesegments,

i.e., 32b, 32c and 32e are slidable relative to the other grippermembers in response to movement of one of air cylinders 58, 60, 62 whichactivate frames 64b, 64c and In FIG. 3, the segmented grippers 32a-32fare positioned for picking up on intermediate table 28 as is evidentthat the grippers are set to-pick up four pairs of double-layer courses(see FIG. 1). After pickup head 30 is lifted, air cylinders 58, 60 and62 are activated to engagement with-each other which then forms a thirdpair of double-layer courses, however in these courses, there are onlyten bricks in each row, to which another brick will be added asdescribed hereinbefore. The brick are then positioned so as to be setdown at the discharge positionwith one rank of double-layer courses intrays 40 on offbearingconveyor 38 and the other rank of coursesdeposited on side table 42. As the offbearing conveyor carries the firstrank of courses away from the area, the pusher 44 moves the second rankonto succeeding trays 40 on the conveyor 38. The courses as a result ofthe regrouping are the proper row size for stacking and strappingwithout the necessity of breaking the courses down into single rows, ashas been necessary hereinbefore.

Although the specification describes one illustrative embodiment inwhich bricks are regrouped from courses of eight in a row to eleven in arow, it is obvious that other combinations of regroupings may be formedby utilizing the apparatus illustrated hereinabove.

Further, although a preferred embodiment has been described andillustrated, it is obvious that certain modranged in courses of oneprescribed size and forming courses .of a second prescribed size inpreparation for a stacking and strapping operation, wherein the bricksare initially positioned on the kiln car in a plurality of stacks, eachstack including a plurality of double-layer courses and each course madeup of a plurality of rows and columns, the bricks in each row havingspaces therebetween, said apparatus comprising the combination of:

a. a receiving station, an intermediate table and a discharge station;b. a first pickup head mounted for reciprocal, horizontal movementbetween a first position at said receiving stationand a second positionat said intermediate table; said first pickup head including a firstgripping means associated therewith for trans-. ferring the uppermostcourse from each of a prcscribed number of stacks to said intermediatetable; I a second pickup head mounted for reciprocal movement between afirst position at said intermediate. station and a second position atsaid discharge station, said second pickup head including a secondgripping means associated therewith for lifting said courses depositedon said intermediate table and regrouping said courses into said secondprescribed size. 7 I v2. The apparatus according to claiml further.including a horizontal frame overlying said receiving station, saidintermediate table and said discharge station; a carriage mounted forreciprocal movement along said frame, said first and second pickup headsmounted on said carriage.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first gripping meansincludes a plurality of gripper pairs,'each of said gripper pairs atsaid first position being engageable with opposite ends of the rows inone of said courses to.close said spaces prior to the transfer thereof.

4. The apparatus according to claim'3 wherein succ'essive courses onsaid kiln car have the headers facing perpendicular to the headers ofthe preceding course and further including means associated with saidfirst gripping means for rotating alternate courses in a horizontalplane whereby all courses are placed on said intermediate table with theheaders facing in the same direction.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said second grippingr'neans in its first position is positioned adjacent and selectivelyengageable with the ends of the columns of said courses.

second pickup head includes a pair of side frame members and said secondgripping means comprises a plurality of segmented gripper pairs slidablymounted on.

said side frame members for relative movement with respect to each otherin a row-wise direction, and an activating means for selectivelymoving'at least some of said segmented gripper pairs in a row-wisedirectionwith respect to others.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said activating meansincludes a plurality of air cylinders, the cylinder portion of said aircylinders being stationarily connected to said second pickup head andthe piston of each air cylinder being connected to one of said gripperpairs, other of said gripper pairs not connected with any of said aircylinders, whereby the distance between gripper pairs may be selectivelyvaried in response to said air cylinders.

1. Apparatus for removing brick from a kiln car arranged in courses ofone prescribed size and forming courses of a second prescribed size inpreparation for a stacking and strapping operation, wherein the bricksare initially positioned on the kiln car in a plurality of stacks, eachstack including a plurality of double-layer courses and each course madeup of a plurality of rows and columns, the bricks in each row havingspaces therebetween, said apparatus comprising the combination of: a. areceiving station, an intermediate table and a discharge station; b. afirst pickup head mounted for reciprocal, horizontal movement between afirst position at said receiving station and a second position at saidintermediate table, said first pickup head including a first grippingmeans associated therewith for transferring the uppermost course fromeach of a prescribed number of stacks to said intermediate table; c. asecond pickup head mounted for reciprocal movement between a firstposition at said intermediate station and a second position at saiddischarge station, said second pickup head including a second grippingmeans associated therewith for lifting said courses deposited on saidintermediate table and regrouping said courses into said secondprescribed size.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 further includinga horizontal frame overlying said receiving station, said intermediatetable and said discharge station; a carriage mounted for reciprocalmovement along said frame, said first and second pickup heads mounted onsaid carriage.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said firstgripping means includes a plurality of gripper pairs, each of saidgripper pairs at said first position being engageable with opposite endsof the rows in one of said courses to close said spaces prior to thetransfer thereof.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3 whereinsuccessive courses on said kiln car have the headers facingperpendicular to the headers of the preceding course and furtherincluding means associated with said first gripping means for rotatingalternate courses 90* in a horizontal plane whereby all courses areplaced on said intermediate table with the headers facing in the samedirection.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said secondgripping means in its first position is positioned adjacent andselectively engageable with the ends of the columns of said courses. 6.The apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said second pickup headincludes a pair of side frame members and said second gripping meanscomprises a plurality of segmented gripper pairs slidably mounted onsaid side frame members for relative movement with respect to each otherin a row-wise direction, and an activating means for selectively movingat least some of said segmented gripper pairs in a row-wise directionwith respect to others.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 6 whereinsaid activating means includes a plurality of air cylinders, thecylinder portion of said air cylinders being stationarily connected tosaid second pickup head and the piston of each air cylinder beingconnected to one of said gripper pairs, other of said gripper pairs notconnected with any of said air cylinders, whereby the distance betweengripper pairs may be selectively varied in response to said aircylinders.